Sudan’s army commander Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan rejected late on Sunday any settlement that keeps the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in power or allows it to be a partner in rule in the country, whether during a transitional phase or in the future.
He slammed US adviser for African affairs Massad Boulos as being biased to the RSF, while also expressing his doubt over the Quad’s initiative, describing it as the “worst proposal yet” to end the war.
He also slammed the United Arab Emirates’ involvement in the Quad, accusing it of supporting the RSF. He, however, praised the role played by Saudi Arabia and US President Donald Trump in helping end the conflict.
The Quad includes Saudi Arabia, the UAE, US and Egypt. The mediators have been trying for over two years to bring an end to the fighting and reestablish a path to democratic transition which was hampered by a military coup in 2021.
This month, Trump said that he plans to put greater attention on helping find an end to Sudan's war after being urged to take action by Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister, during his visit to the White House.
Boulos told The Associated Press earlier this month that the latest proposal to end the war calls for a three-month humanitarian truce followed by a nine-month political process.
The RSF said it has agreed to the truce, following global outrage over the paramilitaries’ atrocities in the Darfur city of el-Fasher. In a video speech late Monday, the paramilitary commander Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo reiterated the group's commitment to a three-month humanitarian truce and called for mediators to pressure the military to accept the proposal.
Burhan, Sudan's top general, said however that the proposal “is considered the worst document yet,” since it “eliminates the Armed Forces, dissolves security agencies and keeps the militia where they are” — referring to the RSF.
“If the mediation continues in this direction, we will consider it to be biased mediation,” he said.
He lashed out at the US adviser and accused him of attempting to “impose some conditions on us.”
“We fear that Massad Boulos will be an obstacle to the peace that all the people of Sudan seek,” Burhan said, without given further details about the plan.
Sudan plunged into chaos in April 2023 when a power struggle between the military and the RSF exploded into open fighting in the capital, Khartoum, and elsewhere in the country.
The devastating war has killed more than 40,000 people, according to UN figures, but aid groups say that is an undercount and the true number could be many times higher. It created the world’s largest humanitarian crisis with over 14 million people forced to flee their homes, fueled disease outbreaks and pushed parts of the country into famine.
On Monday, UN Secretary-General António Guterres called for an immediate ceasefire and for both the military and the RSF to negotiate a settlement.
Writing on social platform X, he also called for a “safe & unimpeded delivery of humanitarian aid," as well as an end to arms and fighters transfer to Sudan.
“We need peace in Sudan,” Guterres said.
In a statement Monday, the UAE's Foreign Ministry said Burhan, through his rejection of the ceasefire proposal, showed “obstructive behavior,” which it said “must be called out.”
Moreover, Burhan denied that the military is controlled by Islamists or that it used chemical weapons in its fighting against the RSF — an accusation leveled by the Trump administration in May.
Burhan said the military will only agree to a truce when the RSF completely withdraws from civilian areas to allow the return of displaced people to their homes, before embarking on talks for a political settlement to the conflict.
“We’re not warmongers, and we don’t reject peace,” he said, “but no one can threaten us or dictate terms to us.”
